Fluid-pressure signal-valve



(No Model.)

H. R. MASON.

PLUIE PRESSURE SIGNAL VALVE. No. 534,401. Patented Feb. 19, 1895,

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certain signal valve, which constitutes one of A UNITE-D t STAT-EsllefrrzivT i* OFFICE.

HARRY R. MASON, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

FLUID-PRESSURE SIGNAL-VALVE.

SPECIFICATION yforming part 0f Letters Patent No. 534,401, datedFebruary 19, 1895. Application filed December 7, 1894. `Serial No.53I|090 (No model.)

To all whom it Hetty concern:

Be it known that LHARRY R. MASON, a citizen of the United States,residing at'Oak. Park, in the county of Cook and Stateof Illi- Y nois,have invented a new and useful Im-.

provement in Fluid-Pressure Signal-Valves, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in a the principal features ofduid-pressure signaling systems for railway-trains, and is usuallylocated upon the .engine cab to be actuated, by signaling impulses in tooperate the signal. v

My present improvement relates to a sig.

nal valve of the non-interference type, the

:name being given to valves of this particular class because theyare-constructed to prevent' such interference, from reboundingsignaling.

impulses as would causeundue repetition of the signal.

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 512,889, granted to meJanuary 16,1894, I-

show, describe and claim a non-interference signal-valve, thenon-interference principle being carried out with mechanism oper- Iating automatically, after the signal has been sounded once under theaction of the direct impulse, to shut 0E the signal temporarily, whereby,fluctuations of pressurein thesignaling-pipe, following upon the directimpulse, have no effect upon the signal. r

My present object is to provide a signalvalve with improved mechanism,which shall operate to prevent interference from rebounding impulses, ina train of any length and without the necessity of adjustment accordingto the length of the train, by causing such lowering of thesignal-reservoir pressure unthe signaling-pipe,-

Byretarding the return of the signal-valve piston thedegree of pressurevented from the signalingreservoir is increased and thesigmaling-reservoir pressure thus lowered to a degree which will preventits lifting the signal-.valve piston against the reduced'counterpressure upon the vpiston, occasioned by rebounding impulsesfollowing the direct impulse.

' My object is', further, to provide mechan- .ism for'carrying outmyinvention, of a simple, durable and economical construction.

The drawing vshowsavertical central section of Aa valve-device involvingmy improvements.

A is the valve which isformed, preferably, in two sections A Azvttingtogether with an intervening gasket t, The lower section'A2 is formedwith a chamber s which, at its upper end, communicates through a coredpassage-r with a pipe BV leading to the signaling or train-pipe, notshown. On the shell at r and communicating with the passage r is theusual train or signal pipe pressure gage, not shown. At the base andcenter of the chamber s is a port q surrounded by a valve-seat q', andleading toA a cored ,passage q2 which extends to a signal C, whichmay bea whistle, as shown. vExtending partway about the .valve-seat q is aportp leading to a passage --p which communicates with thesignalingreservoir, not shown. In the upper part of Y the chamber s isan annular bushing s', and

working in said bushing is a movable abutment, preferably in the form ofa piston, '11 upon a stem 'nf sliding through a sleeve or bushingsupported by the part s2 in the chamber s. At its lowerend the stem 'n'is formed into a valve n2 to fit the valve-seat q and close the'port q,The piston n is out of immediate contact at its circumference with thebushing s' to afford an annular passagein the chamber s between oppositesides of the piston. This annular space is the only passage between thetrain-pipe and signalingreservoir, and, for the purpose of'illustration,is exaggerated in the drawing.

In the upper section A', and in open communication with the chamber s,is a chamber Z of smaller diameter than the chamber s and provided withan annular bushing Z.

In the" chamber lis a piston k having a stem la which IOO slides in acored guide Z2 in the shell. The piston 7a fits the bushing Z loosely topermit air to pass between the chambers s Z around the circumferentialface of the piston. Projecting downward from the piston 7c is a stem 7a2provided in its end with a socket 71:3 which receives and slides over alug n3 on the pisfn. Extending through the lug n3 is a transverseopening n4 enlarged in the vertical direction; and fastened in thesleeve or stem 7c2 and passing through the slot n4 is a cotter 7a4.Fastened against the under face of the shellsection A in the chamber sis a stop-plate 755 held in place by a screw 7s, The stop-plate 7s5projects across the path of the pistou 7o and limits the movement of thelatter in the downward direction. When the piston n is down, to seatwith the valve n2 upon the valve-seat q', and the piston 7a rests uponthe stop-plate 7x15 the cutter 7a4 extends through the upper part of theopening n4 leaving an appreciable space between the lower wall of theopening and the cotter. IVhen the piston n rises, as hereinafterexplained, it moves a distance limited by said space before the lowerwall of its opening n4 strikes the stop or cotter 7a4, and in itsfurther rise the piston would have to raise the piston 7c.

In the upper part of the shell-section A is a chamber Z closed at thetopby a screw-cap i. Extending from the passagerto the chamber 'L' is acored passage i2, and extending from the chamber Z to the chamber Z is aventpassage i3. Around the passage i3 in the chamber t is a valve-seatZ4 upon which tits a check-valve t5. The check-valve is of predeterminedweight and eftectually closes the passage t3. On the screw t is a stopt5 which limits the rise of the valve from the seat t,

In operation, air under pressure from the signaling-pipe B enters thecored passage r and fills the chambers s t'. From the chamber .s thepressure passes, somewhat slowly, around the piston n and through thepassage p p to the signaling-reservoir; and pressure also passes fromthe chamber s around the piston 7t to the chamber Z. The chambers s Z t'and the signaling-reservoir are thus charged with air under a pressureequal to that of the signaling-pipe. The weight of the piston n and thesuction eect against the valve a2 at the `port q, maintains the saidpiston and valve seated and the port q closed. The piston 7c restsnormally upon the stop 705, and the valve is maintained normally closedby gravity.

All the conductors signalingT valves which I prefer to provide for myimproved signaling-system are constructed with a view to venting witheach operation a certain predetermined volume or degree of pressure witheach operation,so that each time they are actuated the generated impulsewill be the same. All

my conductors signalingvalves are constructed alike, so that in a trainof any number of cars a signaling impulse will be initially ot' the samenegative force no matter upon what car it is generated. A signalingimpulse generated at a conductors signalingvalve in a long train isnecessarily weaker, when it reaches the signaling-valve, than it wouldbe in a short train. In Letters Patent hitherto granted to meIhaveexplained, and it is now well-known in the art, that a signaling impulsewhen it travels to the end of the signaling-pipe rebounds, the force ofthe rebound being proportional to the force of the direct impulse. Asalso explained in patents hitherto granted to me there is always dangerwhen the signal has been actuated by a direct impulse that it will beactuated a second time by the rebounding impulse if no means areprovided to preventit. The meansl provide in the present constructionproduce such venting or lowering of the signal reservoir pressure underthe direct impulse that the reservoir pressure will be approximately aslow as, or lower than, the pressure above the piston n when therebounding impulse is felt in the chambers above the said piston. Toaccomplish this the piston fa, as I prefer to provide it, is madesuil'iciently sensitive to rise and cause operation of the signal underan impulse generated at a conductors signaling valve in a train of,

say, eighteen cars,-eighteen passenger' cars being usually the limit innumber allowed for any one train by railroads. Under a signaling impulsegenerated in a train of eighteen cars the piston n will rise to the stop764, and when by venting through the port q the signaling reservoirpressure falls approximately to that in the train-pipe, the piston willdrop and close the port q. The rebounding impulse will reach the piston,before there has been time for any material replenishment of thereservoirs, and a rebounding impulse will not lower the pressure abovethe piston n sufciently to cause it to be moved from its seat by thereservoir pressure.

The piston 7c may be said' to perform two functions, because in the rstplace it presents a yielding counter-force to that which raises thepiston n, and then when it has been moved from normal position by theforce of the piston n, in the rise of the latter, it presents a yieldingcounter-force to that which lowers the piston n. Thus an impulse ofgreater force than that necessary to lift the piston 'n alone, causesthe latter to litt the piston 7c, and expel air from the chamber Z tothe chamber 'L' against the resistance of the Weighted valve t5. Thegreater the signaling impulse the greater the rise of the piston 7c, andthe rise of the piston isV therefore proportional to the strength of theimpulse. In order that the piston 7c may return to normal position airmust pass around the said piston from the chambers to the chamber Z. Thegreater the rise of the pistons, therefore, the slower their return tonormal position, and the longer the portq will remain open to ventpressure from the signaling reservoir.

In practice I prefer to so construct the apparatus that the piston awill be lifted only to the IOO IOC'

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stop k4-under a signaling impulse generated in atrain of from'fourteento eighteen cars. In a shorter train of carsa signaling impulse willreduce the pressure above the-piston n so far below that in thesignaling reservoir that the piston n will be raised to the stop 7a4 andthen raise the piston k in the chamber Z, the force causing the pressurein the chamber Z to raise the weighted valve i5 and thus vent more orless of the pressure from the chamber Z. When the impulse has passed,and pressure rises in the train-pipe and above the piston fn, thelowering of the latter is retarded by the piston 7c, which can move, asstated, no faster than the pressure entering the chamber Z around thepistonlcwill permit. Pressure will vent from the signaling-reservoir tothe signal until the valven2 is closed and the degree of venting isfcommensurate with the rapidity of return of the pistons 'n 7c, or,primarily, with the force of the direct signaling impulse. Under animpulse generated in a train of from ten to thirteen cars the'piston lcwill rise but slightly and retard the return of the piston 'n butslightly, and so on as the train is shortened the degree of rise of thepistons will be in proportion to the force of the direct impulse, whichlater will be, approximately, in inverse proportion to the number ofcars in the train. In a train of from one to four cars the piston Zowill be lifted tothe top of the chamber Z and its return madeproportionately slow. In every instance the pistons will be raised andthe port q caused to remain open a length of time sufficient to ventenough pressure from the signaling-reservoir to prevent the reboundingimpulse from causing a second rise of the piston n. It is of coursedesirable to economize air as much as possible and for this reason theparts should be adjusted with suflicient nicety to permit just enoughand no more pressure to be vented from the signaling-reservoir than isnecessary with each operation. Following the action of each directimpulse, pressure is equalized with desired quickness between oppositesides of the piston n by the passage around it of pressure from thetrain-pipe to the signaling-reservoir.

In its broadest sense the gist of my invention lies in providingmechanism which will operate automatically to retard the closing orreturn of the valve, at the outlet port to the signal, whereby under allconditions sufficient pressure will be withdrawn from thesignaling-reservoir to prevent the piston from being raised by therebounding impulse. My invention further consists, in providingretarding mechanism for the said valve which will be governed'in itsaction by the force of the direct or original impulse, so that under acomparatively strong impulse,which would be followed by acorrespondingly strong rebound,the signaling-reservoir will be vented toa greater degree than under a comparatively weak impulse.

In carrying out my invention I employ the construction shown in thedrawing, and I prefer it to any other construction, at present, becauseit is the best I have tried, and it operates Well. My invention, inspirit, however, may be carried out with mechanism variously modiiied,and I do not Wish itfto be limited in its broad sense to any particularconstruction of return-retarding mechanism for the valve. n

What Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy 1. In afluid-pressure signaling-system, the combination with a signal-valvedevice provided with valve-mechanism interposed between a signaling-pipeand a signaling-reser- Voir, and subject on its opposite sides topressure therefrom, respectively, and normally closing an outlet fromsaid reservoir to the signal, and movable from normal position to opensaid outlet under pressure from the said reservoir when the train-pipepressure falls under a signaling impulse, of return retarding mechanismfor the said valve-mechanism supplementing the action of the reservoirpressure to afford yielding resistance to the return of thevalve-mechanism to normal position under the rise of pressure in thesignaling-pipe following said impulse, substantially as and for thepurpose Aset forth.

2. In a duid-pressure signaling-system, the combination with asignal-valve device provided with valve-mechanism interposed between asignaling-pipe and a signaling-reservoir, and subject on its oppositesides to pressure therefrom, respectively, and normally closing anoutlet from said reservoir to the signal, and movable from normalposition to open said outlet under pressure from the said reservoir whenthe train-pipe pressure falls under a signaling impulse, of returnretarding mechanism for the said valve-mechanism governed in the extentof its retarding action by the force of the signaling impulse andsupplementing the action of the reservoir pressure to afford yieldingresistance to the return of the valve-mechanism to normal position underthe rise of pressure in the signaling-pipe following said impulse,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a fluid-pressure signaling-system, the combination with asignal-valve device provided with valve-mechanism interposed between asignaling-pi pe and a signaling-reservoir, and subjccton its oppositesides to pressure therefrom respectively, and normally closing an outletfrom said reservoir to the signal, and movable from normal position toopen said outlet under pressure from the said reservoir when thetrain-pipe pressure falls under asignaling impulse, of return retardingmechanism for the said valve-mechanism in the path of the saidvalve-mechanism to be engaged and moved thereby after the said valvemechanism has been moved a predetermined distance from its normalposition,

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and supplementing the action of the reservoir pressure to afford`yielding resistance to the return of the valve-mechanism to normalposition under the rise of pressure in the signaling-pipe following saidimpulse, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a fluid-pressure signaling-system, the combination with thevalve-device provided with a piston interposed between asignalingpipeand asignaling-reservoir and subject on its opposite sides to pressuretherefrom respectively, and normally closing an outlet from the saidreservoir to the signal, and movable from normal position to rise andopen said outlet under pressure from the said reservoir when train-pipepressure falls under a signaling impulse, of return-retarding mechanismat the said valve-device for the said piston, comprising a chamberhaving a vent opening, a movable abutment in said chamberat one sideexposed to signaling pipe pressure and connected with the said piston,and a small feed passage between opposite sides of said abutment, thepiston operating, when raised, to engage and move said abutment to expelair from said chamber through said vent opening and a check-valve atsaid vent opening, whereby the speed of the return of the piston andabutment to normal position is regulated by the speed of entrance of airto said chamber through said feed passage, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

5. In a fluid-pressure signaling-system, the combination with thevalve-device provided with a piston interposed between a signalingpipeand a signaling-reservoir and subject on its opposite sides to pressuretherefrom respectively, and normally closing an outlet from the saidreservoir to the signal, and movable from normal position to rise andopen said outlet under pressure from the said reservoir when train-pipepressure falls under a signalngimpluse, of return-retarding mechanism atthe said valve-device for the said piston, comprising a chamber, acomparatively large vent passage from thechamber to the signaling-pipe,a check-Valve i5 at said vent passage, a comparatively small feedpassage from the signaling-pipe to the said chamber, and a movableabutment in said chamber at one side exposed to signalingpipe pressureand connected with the said piston, the piston operating, when raised,to engage and move said abutment to expel air from said chamber throughsaid Vent opening to the signaling-pipe against the resistance of thevalve 115, and the return of the abutment and piston to normal positionbeing regulated by the speed of entrance of air to said chamber throughsaid feed passage, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a fluid-pressure signaling-system,the combination with thevalve-device provided with a piston interposed between a signalingpipeand a signaling-reservoir and subject on its opposite sides to pressuretherefrom respectively, and normally closing an outlet from the saidreservoirto the signal, and movable from normal position to rise andopen said outlet under pressure from the said reservoir when train-pipepressure falls under asignaling impulse, of return-retarding mechanismat the said valve-device for the said piston, comprising a chamber, acomparatively large vent passage from the chamber to the signaling-pipe,acheclc-valve t5 at said vent-passage, a comparatively small feedpassage from the signaling-pipe to the said chamber, and a movableabutment in said chamber at one side exposed to signalingpipe pressureand connected with the said piston, the piston being movable for apredetermined distance independent of said abutment, and operating whenraised beyond said predetermined distance, to engage and move saidabutment to expel air from said chamber through said vent opening to thesignaling-pipe against the resistance of the valve t5, and the return ofthe abutment and piston to normal position being regulated by the speedof entrance of air to said chamber through said feed passage,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HARRY R. MASO.

In presence of- M. J. FROST, J. H. LEE.

